This is our last beer from Victory. I landed this beer in a trade since Victory beers are not distributed out here. We could easily get them in Indiana, but Indiana is a lot closer to Pennsylvania than Arizona. I am a big fan of this brewing company, too. I didn't realize the guy behind it were beer nerds and studied beer in Germany. I hope this beer stacks up.

I have had this before, but not in a long time. I think the last time I had this was in Indianapolis at a beer festival. Oh, and I love the label. The little hop devil… cute!

In the Glass: The beer, for being an American IPA, has a nice creamy head. The lace is really nice, too. I would use the word, "sticky" to explain the lace. The beer is also quite cloudy. Makes me think of an unfiltered wheat beer. Maybe that is the German training these brewers had. Let's see what she smells like.

Nose: There is a ton of orange zest on this one. The tasting notes mentioned a lot of pine, but I am not getting much, if any, pine here. That's good, because it's hot outside. I like nice citrus forward beers during the hot summer months. Save pine for the wintertime. Well, the 65 degrees we get here in the desert! There might be a hint of pine there, but the sweetness of the malts really tames it down. Let's see what she tastes like.

Flavor: There is more pine on the palate. A lot more pine. The beer also has a weird mouthfeel, but we will get to that. The flavor profile doesn't really match the aroma whatsoever. That's not a bad thing, as that allows you to experience a wide range of hop character in a single bottle. I haven' had their lineup in a while, but I wonder if all their beers have a similar hop profile. Think Stone Brewing Company.

Mouthfeel: Flat. If I didn't know any better, I would say this beer was flat. It's not, but it has a very flat mouthfeel. I don't know what other words to use to describe it… it's not thin, but that is the word that comes to mind.

I will mention this beer is NOT right out of the fridge. I took this beer out and let it warm up a little. Some of the mouthfeel changes might be coming from that. I wonder if Sheryl noticed.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste also has a lot of pine in it. It is somewhat drying, and leaves me wanting another drink. The ABV on this bottle would allow me to drink 3 or 4 without even really taking note. Speaking of their other beers, their Storm King and Golden Monkey are two of their best beers. They also produce a weizen bock that I have never had. I am not sure I have even seen the bottle.

This is a good beer. For a basic IPA, I would totally put this in my rotation. It has just enough hop character to appease the hop head in me. Sheryl isn't a big fan of hops, but yesterday ordered the new Enjoy By from Stone. We were at Aces and Ales in Las Vegas celebrating my birthday, and they had the new one on tap. It was good; lots of fruity flavors.